Do your Clients trust your advice when you tell them about their skin-hair-body? They could buy the same or similar products for their own use elsewhere without your advice. Why then do they value your advice? How is it that you know more about their own skin-hair-body than they know? Are you more knowledgeable than they are, or are you more knowledgeable than they are on this particular subject?

My guess is that the Clients that listen to you are very discerning, because they know that you have expertise that they themselves do not. They may be Doctors, Lawyers, or Housewives, they may have far more education than you may, yet even though they have spent their whole life with their own skin they trust you opinions, work and expertise. They understand the value of a good Skin Care "Consultant".

Likewise a smart Spa/Salon Owner or Potential Owner seeks, finds, and listens to good advice from Consultants that have expertise that they themselves do not.

As I consult, I am often in awe of the wealth of knowledge my Clients (Spa/Salon Owners/Operators) have in their field. I also find that some of the best know their Clients needs better than their own. This is what makes them the best at what they do; they can anticipate the needs and offer a solution that works. They are completely focused on their being the best at what they do, and often not focused on one or more of the other aspects of their business. This is not an insult, quite the contrary, how could any one of us know all that we need to know to make a successful business.

I am no different, while I know that I am the best at analyzing business/payroll aspects of Spas/Salons, I know that there is much knowledge that I do not possess. When I do not have the answer to a particular problem, I feel good about myself if I merely know who to ask, and who’s advice to respect.

Selecting a Consultant is very much like hiring an employee, many of the same criteria should be used, the big difference is that you are only hiring them for a limited amount of time.

As in any other business there are Consultants out there that have no business being in this business, unfortunately many of them have the better sales skills than the ones with the skills that you may need. But I prefer to look at the pool of "Experts" as ones that fit your need and ones that do not.

Word of mouth, with other Spa/Salon Owners is of course one way to find Consultants, however this does not insure that:

A. They have specialized knowledge in the area that you may need.
B. You will have the rapport with them that you need.

Taking a seminar offered by a particular Consultant or reading what they have published may be the best way of helping to make your decision. Decide if what you hear and read makes sense to you, do you like the way they think, do you think they will work with you and respect your needs.

If we first realize where we may need help in our business and never assume that one Consultant fits all, we can then split the pool Consultants into areas of expertise. From this smaller pool of qualified Consultants we can then look to find the one that we feel we can best work with.

Sometimes we feel that "we know it all" or that it would be a sign of weakness to have to admit that we need outside help. To which I am reminded of the quotes:

• "The brighter you are, the more you have to learn."
  • Don Herold
• "The important thing is not to stop questioning."
  • Albert Einstein
• "I find that the more I learn the more I realize how little I know"
  • Skip Williams

Large companies have a huge pool of experts on marketing, accounting, human resources, training, management, sales, etc. on their payroll yet they still find they need Consultants from time to time. Why then should we expect ourselves to be experts on every subject?

The objections and benefits are similar to your own Client – Expert relationship, while the roles are clearly reversed. See if they sound vaguely familiar.

They are expensive!

Just like the Skin Care Consultant, there is a temptation for a Client to think that "the more they charge, the better they must be". Thinking like this could be a very costly mistake. Like your Client, we need to find the Consultant that best fits our needs and our wallets.

• One that has the expertise that we may be lacking
• One that is the best fit for our situation
• One that can see our vision, and help us to make it better (as opposed to one that wants to change everything about us that makes us unique)
• One that we can work with

We must realize that the Consultant must offset his/her marketing and overhead costs over a small amount of hours. The Consultant also understands that we can benefit from their advice for years to come, and the return on only one of his/her ideas incorporated could add up to hundreds of times greater savings than the amount of their invoice.

Often they have not been in the industry as long as we have!

Just like that Client’s skin, they may have lived with it longer, but you have seen dozens if not hundreds of similar cases and know just what to do.

A Consultant sees businesses that are doing things right and businesses that are doing things wrong, and they analyze them both and know the causes and reasons, and have more "expertise" to offer a solution.

I can do it myself!

Indeed your Clients can do much of what you do for them at home too. However they often do not have the discipline, or the expertise to find the solution or alternative solutions to their problems. They may be able to have good skin or average skin but to get the very best skin they need the services and advice of an expert Skin Care "Consultant"

We can all get a business license, rent a space, hire employees, and go into business, and our success will vary depending on many things. A Consultant can help us fine-tune those things we do well, and help us change the things we have difficulty with.

• I am doing just fine without them!
• I had a bad experience with one!
• I know what I am doing!

Just like many of your Clients see objections, you know that the discerning ones see the benefits. You also know that the Clients taking advantage of those benefits will clearly be way ahead of those who do not!

You are a "Consultant", an expert; you see the benefits that you provide, be sure that you see the benefits that other Consultants and experts have to offer you.